Who are the world's worst tourists?
 

French tourists seen as world's worst: survey

Thu Jul 9, 6:06 am ET
PARIS (Reuters Life!) – French tourists are the worst in the world, coming across as bad at foreign languages, tight-fisted and arrogant, according to a survey of 4,500 hotel owners across the world.

They finish in last place in the survey carried out for internet travel agency Expedia by polling company TNS Infratest, which said French holidaymakers don't speak local languages and are seen as impolite.

"It's mainly the fact that they speak little or no English when they're abroad, and they don't speak much of the local language," Expedia Marketing Director Timothee de Roux told radio station France Info.

"The French don't go abroad very much. We're lucky enough to have a country which is magnificent in terms of its landscape and culture," he said, adding that 90 per cent of French people did their traveling at home.
"So when they're on holiday they can be a bit stressed, they're not used to things, and this can lead them to be demanding in a way which could be seen as a certain arrogance."

French tourists are also accused of generally spending less than other nationalities when abroad.

De Roux said the French, not accustomed to leaving large tips at home where a service charge is automatically levied on restaurant bills, can seem "tight-fisted" compared with other nationalities.

The Japanese ranked top of the Best Tourist survey, with the British and the Germans judged the best of the Europeans.

But French tourists received some consolation for their poor performance, finishing third after the Italians and British for dress sense while on holiday.

HOW THE WORLD RANKS TOURISTS

BEST TOURISTS
1. Japanese
2. Britons
3. Canadians
4. Germans
5. Swiss

WORST TOURISTS
1. French
2. Spaniards
3. Greeks
4. Turks
5. South Africans

MOST POLITE
The Japanese

MOST IMPOLITE
The French

MOST QUIET
The Japanese

MOST FRUGAL
The French

MOST CLEAN
The Japanese

MEANEST TIPPERS
The French


(Reporting by Joseph Tandy; editing by James Mackenzie)

This is funny because I worked at a couple of amusement parks when I was younger and we all thought the Japanese were. They took cuts in line, pushed people out of their way, and spoke very loudly. After living in Japan I realized that they did this because they were finally free of the constraints of their society and were just very excited. They did tip very well which is amazing since they don't tip in Japan.
We never saw as many French people, so I guess our opinions were wrong.

I saw that survey thing a while ago.
The French being the worlds worst tourists seems so stereotyped. But seeing as I've never met one who am I to judge.

But I have noticed many Japanese tourists (in NYC) are polite, and quiet.

But British in the top? I read a different report that said many British tourists were responsible for alcohol related misbehavior and just being rude when abroad.
And at least from being in Japan with a group of people some of them lived up to the bad stereotypes of people from the U.S in other countries.

I agree. It feels like the stereotype that says that French people are rude. I never trust these surveys. There are different cultural ideas of what's rude and what isn't across the world. One thing may be rude to one person, but go to another country and it might be completely acceptable. So, for these surveys, who gets to decide what's rude and what isn't?

Unless I am reading it wrong this poll was released today.

so the majority of worst tourists are Europeans. Funny:D i always thoutht spanierds were the worst.

It's a survey of hotel staff who deal with people from all over the world in their hotel...from hotels from all around the world. So sure, there are different cultural ideas, but the question becomes, who makes the effort to not be rude in said culture and who doesn't. It seems the French, in this case, don't make that effort, and is probably why 90% of French travelers don't leave the country.

mercedesjin: Yeah, there are different cultural standards for what is rude and some people may not know (Unless you're doing them all without realizing? :S ). But thats why I think if you're traveling abroad (especially to a country like Japan) you really need to do your research before you go.

MMM: I read the same thing, or at least something very similar to this in the local news paper a while ago.

Zagato289: Yeah, why trying to make Europeans look bad huh?

clairebear: The British and people from the U.S do have a tenancy to expect everyone to speak english, which really pisses me off. (No offense)
I think its because both cultures are pretty linguistically homogeneous.

First, I read that article on Yahoo and I didn't see any references to where this survey was being taken. I didn't see anything said about the survey being taken all over the world. It didn't give a list of specific countries. If I missed it, please point it out.

Moving on from that, though... How can someone make an effort to not be rude in another culture if they don't know about that culture?

If you're going to say that there's information in things such as guidebooks, I personally don't think those are so helpful. I can go out and buy a guidebook to how to act in Japan. I can learn not to sneeze in public and to slurp my noodles. Guidebooks don't teach a person everything about that culture, though. Guidebooks can't teach a person how to act in a culture - not as well as being born and raised into that culture. So while a person can think, "Make an effort to not be rude," I think there's a strong possibility that a person may or may not know what is rude - because, like I said, ideas of politeness vary from culture to culture.

One last thing: maybe you can say "it seems that MOST of the French," because it's not best to make generalizations like that.

That's interesting. British tourists I have met in Japan and the US were never obnoxious, and were always polite and easy-going. Now British TEACHERS I knew in Japan, especially in the British-style pubs...that was a different story.

I agree that it's important to research, but as I was telling MMM, I think that there's a lot more to a culture than can be expressed in a guidebook or a website. There's bound to be something that a guidebook/website can't or doesn't express about cultures and impoliteness.

I read a couple versions of the article. The polling happened last month.

Carried out last month by TNS Infratest, the study asked 40,000 hotels worldwide to rank tourists from 27 countries based on nine criteria, from their politeness to their willingness to tip.

French take title as 'world's worst tourist' in survey
Why would you travel to another culture and not make an effort to not be rude? That seems like a foreign concept to me.

If you have no interest in that culture, why would you go there?

The question is, tourists from which country make the least effort not to be rude. The answer is in the first post.

I think that is implied in what I said. I didn't say "Every French person" I said "The French". Surveys like this are generalizations, but it doesn't mean EVERY French tourist is bad. If I say "Americans like cheeseburgers" it is a true statement, but doesn't mean EVERY American likes cheeseburgers.

Okay, thanks. I'll make sure to check it out.

I think you may have misunderstood the statement I made. I didn't say that people can go to another country without caring about what is rude or not. I meant to say that a person might not understand what is rude or not.

I read and reread the article. I doesn't say that "the French make the least amount effort." It says that the French are the worst tourists. It's an article that stereotypes and attracts readers who easily believe these kinds of surveys without questioning it - without raising questions such as, "Who gets to decide that they're rude?" and, "What if the tourists don't have the resources to understand another culture?"

"The French" is the same as saying "every French person." It's a generalization based on a person's nationality. Saying that Americans like cheeseburgers is also a generalization. It's like saying, "Americans are idiots for voting Bush in for a second term." It's a generalization because not everyone wanted Bush back into office. Saying that the French are rude and don't make an effort is a generalization and a stereotype because I'm sure there are French who do make an effort, and who are extremely polite. Words like "most" and "some" need to be added, because - according to the English language - saying "the French" means every single French person.

Usually im not one for believing in and or promoting sterotypes but on this matter i can agree with this poll. I live close to Washington DC which is of course a huge tourist spot given its the capital of the US and whenever im down there especially in Georgetown at restaurants or bars the French are pretty damn rude. I see it every year and yes they are frugal when it comes to tips. A friend of mine works at Sequoias a very upscale bar and restaurant near the water front and she says French tourist rarely if ever leave tips are rude to the wait staff and are very demanding. Popular clubs in DC and Chinatown the same thing very rude very pushy towards women

*Note these are my personal experiences*

I cant really say much though i have gone abroad with some friends before and was ashamed of how they acted in foreign country as an American. I wouldnt think all French people are rude just the ones i have happened to see. Its not fair to base the entire population on a few that travel abroad. But this goes to show you are representative of your country when you go abroad whether you want to be or not.

I agree with you that a person might not understand every part of a culture before visiting it. People certainly make mistakes. I think hotel workers are the perfect people to ask for surveys like this, because they surely see it all. In 2009 I think it is hard to say people don't have the resources to get the information they need to not be considered rude. It doesn't mean they have to blend in seamlessly into another culture, but the basics are surely available.

Making generalizations and stereotyping are two very different things. Generalizations allow us to say things like "Americans are idiots for voting in Bush" because we KNOW not all Americans voted for Bush. "Japanese food is about subtle flavors." This is true, but not all Japanese food is about subtle flavors. In this article they say "The French don't go abroad very much." Do you read that as "Every single French person doesn't go abroad very much"?

Without generalizations it would take forever to communicate ideas because we would have to put caveats on every statement. I had my years PCing my language as to not offend anyone, and those years are behind me.

mercedesjin: I kind of get where your coming from with who gets to decide who is rude. But this is a poll from around the world, at popular tourist destinations and hotels. Some of these places may stereotype the french but its hard to ignore when everyone says they are the worst. Its a poll from everywhere and this is the consensus. I do agree though that it is up to the person to decide if they are rude or not, and everyone has a different perspective of what rude is.

Now from my personal experience, I'm not to sure. I have net rude and polite people from many different countries. But I can agree, or at least I don't disagree with some of the choices on the list. For the most part when I see Japanese people abroad they are very easy going and having lots of fun. They do tend to be quiet though so this could help. And I always see, (or at least it seems like it) the Japanese making an effort to speak English to people even if they know very little English. And I can agree with the French one becuase in my personal experience I have met some very rude french people. I saw them as rude becuase they were very brash, and didn't really make an attempt to adapt to the culture. And I have actually seen a group of french people speak only in french while trying to buy something. The cashier had no idea what they were saying, but they kept speaking in french and were actually getting angry becuase the lady could not understand them. Now I understand this is not a way to base the actions of a country on the whole.

I have seen many rude and polite tourists. From my experience those are just the ones that stand out. I have seen many rude British tourists, but also many polite ones. From what I have seen the result changes drastically when a family is involved or not. Meaning when there are kids the group as a whole seems to be more polite in the culture. And I was actually surprised to not see the US on there anywhere. Maybe its becuase it is my home country and I can notice easier when someone is being rude but some of the worst tourists in my experience have been American. Now this could be just from my personal experience but I know many Americans who get angry when foreigners don't speak English in the US. But these same people go to another country and make no attempt to speak the native language, and even go as far as to expect them to speak English.

As I said this is just my personal experience and I'm not trying to speak for or judge any country as a whole. Every country has their good and their bad.
Most of my "research" happened in Florida, which is a big tourist location. Its actually interesting, you could go to Disney world and see all these cultures in action and decide for yourself. lol

The Americans managed to redeem themselves, however, winning the title of best tippers, for a final placing of eighth-best tourists.

Kiwis stingy - but French worst - Life & Style - NZ Herald News

Ah! I missed that part. Yes, I wont disagree with the loudest part. I can also see the tipping part. I don't have a ton of experience with tips, as far as getting them, but I have given quite a few. I also don't know other countries standard of tipping. But I know when I was in Japan, the first few times I ate at a restaurant I went to tip and had to be reminded not to give one. This was the same at the bars, Im accustomed to giving a dollar here and there to the bar tender. But this is a really hard one I think because some countries don't tip at all, and the standard of tipping is different everywhere. When we had Japanese exchange students at our school we always had to remind them to tip, and how much. And even which places to tip at. You obviously don't tip someone at subway, but you do at a sit down place.

Dude...wasn't this an artical on the Yahoo! front page?
Yahoo!
~HonoraryJapaneseGirl~

Just because of this I will ignore everything in that survey.
Britons among the best?! Pfft, yeah right.

I read this survey before, for a class. They don't really mention what kinds of hotels they surveyed at though, which could definitely be a factor. Anyways, i've noticed in my experience that Koreans can be kinda rude, like in regard to cutting in lines and stuff. I noticed someone said that about the Japanese, but maybe the same principle for why they do could be applied to Koreans. Although they don't seem as uptight/polite to me, even in their own country.

@ burkhart.... did you mean to make an empty post?

I didn't even know that could be done.

Being in a tourist town and having run my own restaurant here, I would have to say the worst tourists are Chinese and German's.

the British can be a little problematic, but generally fine and it depends where in Britain they derive from.

American's whilst loud, are generally polite and a lot of fun.

On the backpacker side, the Swiss and Swede girls land first place for some overnight fun.

Yes, the Japanese tourists have always been popular here, although making huge money from them is now over, not like what it used to be.

For some reason Alaska is a really big tourist destination for the Japanese.

As a matter of fact, you see the occasional Australian or Brit, but the majority of our (foreign) tourists are the Japanese.


A giant tour bus comes through town probably once a week, and the Japanese spill out in huge camera-clad, sneaker wearing, postcard buying hordes.

For the most part they are all old and unresponsive.

I meant to comment on this earlier, but this sounds very unlike the Japanese I know. It isn't uncommon for oldsters to cut in line at the train platforms, but that's the onlt time I see it, (and at least in Osaka people grumble audibly). I can't imagine Japanese people pushing people out of the way.

I have experienced this with Chinese people, though. One time I landed in Osaka at the same time a plane from China landed. All the Americans stood in the line waiting for customs while the Chinese passengers pushed past them to get to the front. I was happy for a couple marines in front of me who put the kibosh on this unlovable Chinese custom very quickly. Children and wives pushed to the front, but fathers were smart enough not to cut in front of American military men in fatigues.

Yeah, I can see the Japanese are the most nice. I havn't had many experiences with Japanese in Thailand. I'm in the Muay Thai scene, and not many show up to learn Muay Thai. It is mostly Australians, Americans, Europeans and Singaporeans.

But I have met a few. I met some at the Thai embassy in Lao yesterday. They were trying to help me fill out my visa form. I thought it was pretty funny, considering I'd done this a dozen times before, and the form was in English, and they barely spoke English. But I can dig that...

I did meet one Japanese guy doing Muay Thai. Every time I smiled or said thankyou he nodded his head so hard he almost knocked himself out on the cement floor. And if I nodded back he'd basically drop to the ground and worship me...

Yeah, I've met some tossa French, but also some good ones, so...

In my opinion, the worst tourists are loud and obnoxious bogan Australians and Americans who get annoyed with people who don't speak English. Or when they try and speak Thai, they say it completely wrong yet still think they're number one.

It is not uncommon for people like this to loudly voice their unwanted opinions out loud every time they don't get their way. They're always right, of course... :rolleyes:

Like I said I think they were very excited. I'm sure they weren't Chinese. People tend to lose their train of thought in these situations where they experience a culture that has less constraints than their own. When I lived in Brazil, I saw Westerners (Americans and British mostly) go crazy because you are free to do anything that doesn't hurt or offend anyone(this is difficult to do in Brazil but it can happen). However, some went overboard and they were arrested. Then they found out in Brazil you have more freedom, but less rights.

LOL, that is a funny one!

It is just that physical contact is something that is more avoided by Japanese adults (especially with strangers) so it is hard to me imagine Japanese tourists pushing people out of the way, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible.

Thats really interesting.

Ive met some people from Japan before and they were very very polite. Almost to polite it seemed, Ive never met anyone from France tho. I did met some German kids and they weren't so nice.

I think you might be confusing Britan with the UK, which includes Ireland. It would make a differnce (a big differance) if you took Ireland out of the picture... I think.

and the world's worst LOOKING tourists go to....... the chinese


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Must be Kung Fu master from Wu Dang. Horse stance. Very powerful.

I am always a little bit puzzled by that - whenever I see Chinese tourists (in Japan or elsewhere), they always seem to be dressed VERY plainly or have gone completely overboard. Women always seem to have very simple straight hair styles, tied back OR they have ultra-bleached hair contorted into some shape I can`t identify.

Of course I`m sure there have been normal looking groups that haven`t lingered in my memory simply because they do look so normal... But not that many.

Is there some sort of cultural rule about dressing as plainly as possible while traveling? And only the most insane outgoing weirdos ignore it...?